beyond a story book
by amillionsmiles
Summary: In the end they're all just dancing in glass slippers, trying not to cut themselves on broken shards. / HnR drabbles and oneshots set in a Royal Court AU. The first: Yuyuka&Togyuu.


**A/N: **Written for Togyuka Week on tumblr and the "Alternate Universe" prompt. However, I really like this setting, so I might expand this story to be a collection of one-shot and drabbles of multiple characters and pairings within the same universe (lady-in-waiting!Suzume, stable-boy!Inukai, knight!Shishio, etc. :P) In the meantime, enjoy! :)

* * *

Her skirts rustle as someone sneaks up behind her. Before Yuyuka can react, an arm extends into her line of vision, deftly picking the apple hanging from the branch overhead. She stiffens. _Please, no._

Yuyuka slowly turns, finding herself face to face with none other than Prince Togyuu. He bows, the apple in his hand outstretched towards her in an offering. Yuyuka snatches it quickly without saying a word. She turns it over in her hands, tracing its smooth, red skin, pretending she doesn't catch the glimmer of amusement and surprise in the prince's eyes.

He's certainly not the first of her suitors to seek out her attention while she's meandering the grounds, but there's something different about Togyuu—something _off._ Granted, he's as well-dressed as the rest of them, and polite during all the balls, but underneath it all she senses something scruffy, roguish.

It's suspicious, to say the least. And she hates to admit that her interest is piqued.

"Where are you headed today, your Highness?" inquires Togyuu, leaning back on his heels slightly, a hand resting on the pommel of his sword.

"Away from you," Yuyuka replies crisply, gathering her skirts in one hand and keeping the apple clutched in the other. She starts to move past him; Togyuu extends a hand as if to stop her, then thinks better of it at the last minute and lets it drop to his side.

_Good,_ Yuyuka thinks. _At least he knows his place._

That doesn't stop him from following her, however.

"It's not a good idea for you to be wandering around unaccompanied," he says, trailing behind her as they enter the giant hedge maze.

Her parents have said the same thing: _take a guard, take a suitor, a lady-in-waiting, a friend, anyone._ But the whole point is that she wants to be alone for a few peaceable minutes each day, especially after—

Yuyuka blinks and takes a deep breath. "I've lived on these grounds all my life. _You_, on the other hand, arrived just over a month ago." Her voice comes out steady, firm.

She can practically hear Togyuu grin. "You've been keeping track?"

Yuyuka fights the blush threatening to crawl up her neck to her cheeks, thankful she wore her hair down today. "Keeping track of how many days left until you leave, yes."

It's silent and she thinks she's won the round when, out of nowhere, he asks, "Are you avoiding me?"

She wants to snap, _"Obviously,"_ but refrains because there's something different, this time around. He sounds uncertain, worried—his voice is too soft. Without meaning to, she stops and faces him. "It depends. Is there something _you're_ avoiding? Something you aren't telling me?"

His face freezes, halfway between a smile and a grimace. Yuyuka gets that feeling again: something is off. She has become used to his playful smirks, his tagging along like a puppy, but right now Togyuu's expression wars with itself. Some of his earnest streak remains, but a layer of doubt hangs over it.

After a long, long pause, his shoulders sag. "I'm poor," he whispers.

Yuyuka squints at him. "You're what?"

"Poor," he says hoarsely, though a little louder.

"But you're a prince."

The corner of his mouth twitches. "Without a penny in my name."

Her stomach sinks. Yuyuka takes a step back. She should have known—this was exactly what she feared. Yuyuka isn't a fool. She knows she's a catch, the crown jewel of a shining kingdom, but she'd thought, maybe, things could still be different. That Togyuu's attentions hadn't all been political maneuvering. She shivers, trying to avoid drawing her arms around herself and exposing how vulnerable she feels, but she can't take this, not a second time, this opening herself to others only to be let down, especially not after her last heartbreak—

Togyuu seems to sense all this, because his hand closes around her wrist, halting her flight.

"Let go of me," Yuyuka manages, steely-voiced.

"Wait. None of that…it didn't come out right. Let me explain."

Yuyuka faces the ground squarely, refusing to look into Togyuu's eyes, but she stops struggling.

"I'm not going to lie: at first, it was just because you'd caught my interest. The stone-cold princess who nobody could crack. I thought I'd try, and maybe—maybe something good could come out of it. But then I found you that day in the courtyard, crying about that servant boy, and I realized you weren't coldhearted at all.

"I think you care too much, and that makes you afraid. It makes you put on an act. But when you want to be—when you let your guard down—you're startlingly honest. And brave. You're one of the bravest people I know, Yuyuka." He says her name gently, like a secret.

"Your Highness," she starts to correct him, but the words get stuck in her throat. Instead, she manages, "And what about you?"

"I didn't tell you the truth about my background because I didn't want you to discount me right away. No one else at court knows, either, which is fine—I don't want their pity. But after I saw that you didn't care about rank, background, money, I thought…I thought you deserved to know."

She feels a smidgen of frustration, because yes, she wants to know about Togyuu, but another part of her, a part she thought she had pushed down, presses against her chest now, begging for information. "Is that all you want me to know?" she asks quietly.

Togyuu's face cracks open into a smile, like a chick hatching from its shell. Something inside Yuyuka flutters. "The other, you've probably already guessed. I care for you, Yuyuka. I may even love you, but only if you'll have me."

The bird inside Yuyuka's chest slams against its cage. _Too fast, _Yuyuka thinks. _I'm not ready to go down this road again._ But she wants to be. She thinks she could start to. Flushing slightly, Yuyuka murmurs, "I'm not going to say I won't."

Penniless though he is, Togyuu has had his fair share of courtly talk, and as his grin stretches wider, Yuyuka can tell he understands. With her message conveyed, she starts to tug her wrist out of his hand and walk away, but Togyuu moves forward in a flash, his forehead settling against her shoulder. He doesn't hold her against him, but she is still aware of every point where their bodies touch: his heartbeat hammering against hers, the warm weight of his forehead on her bare shoulder, his hair tickling her neck. She should shove him away, for propriety's sake, but she stays. As still as a statue.

_"Yuyuka_," he breathes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't, but you're so…_kind._"

He's delirious, Yuyuka decides. Feverish. That's the only explanation for the strange heat she feels curling in her stomach. He's making her sick. Out loud, she snorts. "That's a lie. I'm not kind."

"Oh, but you are," laughs Togyuu, his fingers loosening from her wrist, trailing down to lace themselves through her own. He pulls back to look her in the eyes; she has to crane her neck upwards a bit to meet his gaze. "You're kind, and brave, and smart, and beautiful…"

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she sniffs, pulling away. She starts back down the path, still clutching the smooth, shiny apple in one hand. After a few paces, she realizes no boots have crunched behind her. Yuyuka pauses, glancing over her shoulder. Togyuu remains rooted to the spot, staring after her—still smiling like always, but with a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, his sudden spurt of confidence strangely dissipated.

"Well?" she huffs. "Are you going to escort me back to the palace or not?"

He bows. "It would be an honor, your Highness."

Yuyuka bites into the apple to hide her smile.


End file.
